Embossing method and means



' im 11, 1944. G. H. CALLUM 2,339,145

' EMBOSSING METHOD AND MEANS Filed July 22, 1940 l iffsmff Patented Jan. 1l, 1944 EMBOSSING METHOD AND MEANS George H. Callum, Mishawaka, Ind., assignor to Mishawaka Rubber and Woolen Manufacturing Company, Mishawaka, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application July 22, 1940, Serial No. 346,734

2 Claims.

My invention relates to the embossing of sheet materials and has reference more par-' ticularly to a method of and facilities for embossing ornamental features or the like at selected locations on sheet materials made of orv surfaced with rubber or on other similar sheet materials.

Ordinarily in embossing such ornamental features or the like on sheet materials of the above mentioned character it is customary to prepare a plate or roll specially forthe purpose with a negative of the desired design or ornamental features engraved thereon and to use such specially prepared plate or roll to impress the design on the sheet material. The engraving of such plates or rolls, however, is tedious and expensive and as such plates or rolls are only useful for embossing the particular design engraved thereon, the expense of making the engraved plate or roll in prohibitive unless large quantities of material are to be embossed with the same pattern or design.

In many cases, however, such materials are desired with unusual or special designs or markings but in quantities insuilicient to justify the expense of an engraved plate or roll and heretofore there has been no acceptable way-of producing such quantities at a reasonable cost. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by securing patterns of cardboard or other suitable material onto the surface of the backing plate or roll by which the material is pressed against an opposed engraved plate or roll so as to impress the design of the engraved plate or roll only on selected areas of the materia1 corresponding to the shape and arrangement of the cardboard pattern thereby providing the material with embossed impressions of any selected shape and in any desired relative locations on the sheet.

Thus an engraved roll or plate with an appropriate overall design may be employed, by the mere application of suitable cardboard patterns on the opposed roll or plate, to produce a great variety of embossed designs or markings on the sheet material and at a negligible cost for the special facilities for each different design. Moreover, color contrast may readily be provided between these embossed areas and the other areas of the sheet material to accentuate the design by proper application of an overall color, the depth or shade of which may be controlled by the depth and texture of the embossing so as to give a two-tone effect. -Furthermore, by utilizing patterns on one plate or roll and a matching cutout on the opposed plate or roll, attractive raised or oilset features or configurations may be produced having an appearance simulating that of hand tooled leather.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide an improved method and improved facilities for producing ornamental figures or the like on sheet materials made of or surfaced with rubber or the like or on any other sheet materials of similar character; to produce such ornamental figures by superflically embossing selected areas of the sheet material or by cifsetting such areas in a manner to simulate hand tooling; to permit variations or changes in the patterns or designs without appreciable expense; and to provide color variations in the different areas of the pattern or design surface; these and other objects being accomplished as pointed out hereinafter and as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a sheet of material showing an illustrative form of ornamentation produced in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 shows somewhat diagrammatically an embossing press with raised pattern for producing theornamentation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the raised pattern of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the press of Fig, 2 taken on the line 4 4 thereof showing the press closed upon the raised pattern in the embossing operation;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of rolls for producing a basic overall surfacing on the sheet;

Fig. 6 is a face view of sheet material showing another illustrative form of ornamentation;

Fig. 'I is a fragmentary perspective view of a cut out facing that may be used in connection with the raised pattern of Fig. 3 to produce offset designs; v

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the raised pattern of Fig. 3 and the facing of Fig. 7 in the offsetting operation; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a sheet of material with oiset figure as produced by the v operation of Fig. 8, the offset figure being shown partly in section.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the use of the overall embossing plate of Fig.' 2 to apply the design thereof to the raised ornamentation.

This invention may be used with any sheet material'suillciently plastic o'r deformable to be embossed or'shaped as required herein although it is particularly applicable to sheet materials composed of or surfaced with a rubber composition or the like which. before vulcanization, is readily shaped or embossed and upon subsequent curing permanently retains the shaping or embossing previously imparted thereto. A typical form of material to which the invention is applicable is a rubber surfaced fabric such as represented in the drawing at II wherein I2 indicates a fabric base .and I3 a lamination or coating of rubber composition, such rubber surfaced fabrics being extensively used for upholstery and similar purposes and commonly provided with an overall embossing and suitably colored to simulate leather.

For imparting a design on such materials in accordance with this invention, a conventional press may be employed comprising upper and lower press plates I4 and I5 respectively, the lower plate preferably being operable to and from the upper plate and the lower or bed plate being adjustable to regulate the extent to which the plates may be closed together and thereby insure whatever spacing of the plates may be required to accommodate the work between the plates for properrly embossing or shaping the work,

The upper plate I4 preferably has an embossing plate I6 secured in any convenient manner to the underside thereof and engraved or otherwise provided with any desired overall design II suitable for the special figures or markings that are to be embossed on the sheet material. Any desired figures or markings may be provided, as for example, fleur-de-lis markings or figures such as shown at I8 in Fig. 1.

To produce these markings or figures on the sheet a pattern of the selected design, for example the yileur-de-lis, is cut out of card-board or other suitable inexpensive material as shown at I8a and secured to the top surface of the bed plate I5 of the press as indicated in Fig. 2. Then by placing the sheet material II on the bottom plate I5 with the rubber surfacing I3 presented upwardly and by closing the upper plate I4 with its embossed plate I8 against the work, the embossing I I of the plate I8 will be stamped only on the area of the sheet II overlying the pattern I 8 and thus produce on the sheet I I an embossed figure of the exact fleurde-lis configuration of the pattern I8,

Obviously the raised pattern I88L on the bed plate I5 elevat'es the particular portion of the sheet II overlying the pattern I8' and holds this area with suilicient firmness so that when it is pressed a'gainst the upper plate I4 the design I1 is impressed on this particular area Whereas the other areas of the sheet Il, being relatively unsupported and freely accommodated between the embossing plate I6 and bed plate I5 receive no impression from the embossing plate I8.

Instead of merely embossing the selected area over the pattern I8 with -the design I I of the embossed plate I6 the entire surface of the sheet II may be embossed with the same design I'I but with selected pattern shaped areas embossed to a greater depth than other areas so that they are accentuated and distinguishable by the difference in the depth of embossing. Further contrast of these areas may be produced by a color wash which imparts a greater depth of color at the deeply embossed areas than at the areas which are lightly embossed.

To accomplish this differential depth of embossing, a thin pattern I8 is employed on the bed plate I5 of the press, the pattern being merely of such thickness to raise the sheet material assai-1s II thereover suillciently to give the desired difference in depth of embossing, and when the top plate I4 and embossing plate I6 are depressed the design I'I is impressed upon the entire surface of the sheet material II on the bed plate I5 so that said surface has the same overall design. However, since the area of the sheet over the thin pattern Iiia is held by the thin pattern at an elevation slightly higher than that of the other areas of the sheet, the raised area, corresponding in shape to the pattern I8u will be embossed to a greater depth and thus produce on the surface of the sheet a ligure of exactly the same shape as the pattern and with the same embossed design as that on the other areas of the sheet but defined and distinguishable by the greater depth of embossing.

Moreover the sheet II may be provided with overall embossing but with the embossing at the pattern areas of a different character than that of the other areas of the sheet. This may be accomplished by lrst embossing the sheet II with an overall or basic design and thereafter by employing a plate I8 with some different design, embossing the selected areas with the latter design.

The overall or basic design may, for example, be such as to simulate leather graining as indicated at I9 and may be impressed on the sheet II in any convenient manner` For example a pair of rolls 20 and 2| may be provided, one of which, for example 20, may be embossed with a negative of the leather graining as indicated at Illa and the other roll 20 may be embossed as at I9b with a positive of the leather grain design I8 so that by passing the sheet II between the rolls 20 and 2| the rubber surfacing I3 thereof is embossed over the entire surface with the leather grain design I9.

After the sheet II is thus provided with the leather grain embossing I9 the sheet is then interposed between the press plates I4 and I5 with the desired pattern I8El on the lower plate and of suiiicient thickness to hold the area of the sheet over the pattern at a. suitable elevation to confine the press embossing to that area and avoid embossing of the sheet elsewhere in the press. The press is then operated and by reason of the elevation of the selected area by the underlying pattern I8a the criss cross design I'I of the embossed plate I6 is impressed only on the area of the sheet II above the pattern I8e and as the other areas of the sheet with their embossing I9 are not aiected by this embossing in the press I4-I5, the pattern I8a is reproduced in the fleur-de-lis form I8 on the rubber surface I3 of the sheet II in the particular embossing I1 whereas the remainder of the surface of the sheet retains the original leather grain embossing I9. Obviously the leather graining I9 directly over the pattern I8* is obliterated in the operation of the press I4-I5 and the rubber surface reformed by the embossed plate I6 to produce the design I1 on the rubber surface over the pattern.

The design I8 may, of course, be applied at random to the sheet II if desired or by carefully positioning the sheet with suitable guides or indexing means, it can be applied repeatedly at regular intervals to produce a sheet II with the design I8 in any desired distributive arrangement throughout the surface of the sheet II. Moreover, any desired shape or form of design may be produced, such as running patterns, silhouettes, emblems, floral designs, lettering and the like by merely employinga'pattemnI-.of the appropriate form, one other illustrative'form of design being shown in Fig. 6 wherein `a ship 22 is impressed in the criss 'cross engraving I1 on a grained surface Il and with this graining Il showing at the center of Ithe sail in the form or'a cross 23. Also a'numberfofpatternsll* may be provided on the press plate iIl to produce a-number of'embossed figures snmilta'neouslyf plished intermittently inl the press Pfl-Thin patterns IB may of course, be'employed on the roll 2i to produce an overall embossing with the patterns" reproduced'on' the sheet by embossment thereof to a greater depth than elsewhere as above explained in connection with the press I4-I5.

After the sheet II has been embossed with the designs I8 thereon or any other designs the sheet material is vulcanized in the usual manner and the embossed design is thereby given permanence. a

Either before or after vulcanization of the sheet the surface may have a color coating applied thereto to provide a finished surface of any desired color, the coating being preferably applied before vulcanization. This color coating may be spread over the embossed surface by wiping with a doctor blade or in other similar manner so as to produce varying depths of color according to the depth and texture o1' the embossing. 'I'hus with a relatively coarse leather graining I9 and a relatively tine lined embossing of the figures I8 or 22 a greater depth of color occurs throughout the embossed areas I and 22 than throughout the other leather grained areas I9 of the sheet thereby providing a two-tone or contrast of color which `accentuates the figures or other markings I8 that are embossed on the sheet.

In addition to its applicability of`se1ective embossing of various figures or designs on sheet material as above explained, this invention may also be employed to produce offset figures, formations or designs of a character similar to those produced for example in leather by hand tooling.

To accomplish this hand tooling effect the ,upper plate I4 is provided, as shown in Fig. 8, with a stencil 24 of cardboard or other suitable material having one or more out outs of the design to be produced on the sheet material I I, and which for the purpose of illustration and as shown at 25 in Fig. '7 is of the same fleur-de-lis configuration as the pattern IBn hereinbefore referred to. The opposed press plate I5 is provided with a facing 26 having raised portions 25"L matching the cut outs 25 of the stencil 24 and when the sheet material I I is interposed between the plates I4 and I5 and the press plates closed thereagainst, a raised figure 21 is produced as shown in Fig. 9 corresponding to that of the raised portion 2liEL and of the same contour oi the cut out 25. The material is thereafter vulcanized and the offsetting thus permanently imparted To produce the facing 26 with raised portions 25', the press plate Il is provided with. an overall covering of paper of the blotting variety and while thelatter is wet, the stencil 24 is pressed thereagainst, thereby compressing those areas of the covering opposite the solid parts of the stencil 24 and leaving at the -stencil openings 25 raised portions 2l". Upon drying the paper covering hardens-and retains the form imparted to it by the stencil 24 with raised portions 25n matching the cut outs 2l of the stencil 24.

In this offsetting, sheet material may be employed to which an embossed surface, such as the leather grain Il, has been applied, and the depth or thickness of the stencil 24 and of the raised portionsl 25, and the extent to which the press plate I4 approaches the bed plate I5 may all beso arranged to avoid any direct. pressure against the embossed surface of the sheet which would mutilate the embossing. On the other hand, raised portions 25!L may be provided, as in Fig. 10, which are of suiliciently greater depth or thickness than the stencil 24 to cause pressure of the upper plate against the top surface of the raised portion of the sheet II on the raised portion 25. If the upper plate is plain (as in Fig. 8) it will impart a smooth surface to the raised portions of the sheet while the other areas of the sheet are devoid of pressure and thus retain the leather graining I9 or other surfacing previously imparted thereto. If the stencil 24 is thicker than the elevation of the raised portion 25* the graining I9 or other surfacing would be preserved on the raised portion of the sheet over` the raised portion 25 and a pressure applied to the remainder of thesheet to smooth the surface.

Moreover if the stencil 24 is applied to the embossed plate I8 of the upper press plato and the raised portion 25Il is of greater depth than the stencil 24 as in Fig. l0, the design I1 of the plate I4 will be embossed on the top surface of the offset area 21.

Thus in this offsetting of pattern areas it will be understood that various dierent eiects may be obtained by using stencils 24 and raised areas 25I of different relative depths` or by using a plain surfaced upper plate or embossed upper plate,

and in both the embossing of Fig. 4 and the oilvsetting of Fig. 8 substantially any form of pattern may be employed and as both the patterns and facings are of inexpensive material and readtily made, a great variety of markings or ornamental flgures either embossed or oilset or both may be provided on the sheet II each at a very nominal expense.

Both the patterns and the facings may be made of any desired material suitable for the purpose and they may be treated with lacquer or shellac or surfaced with fabric to impart greater durability thereto, and it Will be understood that the patterns I3 or other patterns may be directly applied and secured to the press plate or may be mounted on a base as indicated at 28 in Fig. 3 and the latter applied to the bed plate I5 of the press. Also it will be understood that either the embossing roll 20 or the embossing plate I6 may be heated if desired to facilitate the embossing and this heating may be accomplished electrically or by supplying hot Water or steam to the interior of the roll or plate or in any other conventional or known manner.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be mede therein without departing from the principles of the in vention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims in which the terms omamertation end ornamenting contemplate any design or configuration or morirmeI which may be produced on the sheet materiel in eecorciarice with the invention even though such design may not be used strictly for ornementation.

l claim es my' invention:

i. The method oi producing ornamentetions on sheet materiels of rubber or the like, which said method comprises applying on overall em bossing to the foce of the sheet, applying to the surface of e. pressure member e, temporary re movable pattern of on ornementation to be produced on the face of the sheet end opplying to the surface of on opposed pressure member e temporary removable isminotion leaving o outout corresponding'to and registerobie with but sholiower than the potter-ii oi tbe other pressure member, end tiren finterposing; emi oompressiri -tine sheet materiel between the potterri enel notion emol impressing om time ieee or sheet assenso en ornamentation pre-determined as to location end eonguration by the presence of the pattern om the back of the sheet, while simultaneously modifying the embossing of the ornamentation eres.

Sheet material ornamenting means comprisme, o pair of opposed pressure members heving opposed surfaces for compressing sheet materiel therebetween, o. temporary removable patterri of on ornamentation to be produced on the ieee of the sheet carried by one of said pressure members tire other of said pressure members moving the surface thereof provided with e. desien for embossing, and e temporary removable lamination eorried by said second pressure mem ber one hoi/ing a ooo-out corresponding to end reeisterable with but shaliower than the pattern of the iirst pressure member, the embossing desimi of solo seeorid pressure :member beine' exposed within seid eutmout for impressing the em bossimr upon o. portion of the sheet mate'- rioi overlying; soio'i pottern.,

H. CALLUM. 

